All Romanians are vampires

Constantin Brâncuşi (a name nearly impossible to pronounce correctly especially for anglo-saxons (they call him “Brancusi”) is known as the “father of modern sculpture”. Famous for several things. Allegedly walked to Paris (yes, from Romania. Walked.) to see Rodin’s sculpture school. He eventually turned down the offer to work for Rodin, saying something like “grass doesn’t grow in the shadow of a big tree”. And then went on to become a big tree himself. Defined a whole new abstract/minimalist style in modern sculpture. You can check it out in the big museums around the world, in the Brancusi Museum in Paris or, ideally, in his home town of Targu Jiu, where 3 of his masterpieces are exposed in the open air: the Gate of the Kiss, the Table of Silence and the one and only Infinite Column.

Below some very rare photographs of the artist (according to the Canadian Archives the author seems to be… Brâncuşi himself):

Working at Infinite Column
relaxing in his studio: